`To Wong Foo...' Lives Up To Sum Of Its Borrowed Parts

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February 23, 1996|by AMY LONGSDORF (A free-lance story for The Morning Call)

Never less than snappy entertainment, "To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar" (1995, MCA, PG-13, $95.95) tells the story of three drag queens (Patrick Swayze, Wesley Snipes, John Leguizamo) bound for Hollywood. Along the way, they get stranded in a small Nebraska town, where they work their makeover magic on some of the locals, including Stockard Channing, Blythe Danner and Jason London.

Less acerbic than the similarly plotted "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert," Beeban Kidron's follow-up to "Used People" is a zippy be-yourself farce that somehow manages to seem fresh even though it's built entirely of borrowed parts.

The hunky Snipes might not be trying very hard to pass himself off as a woman, but he sure knows how to deliver a one-liner -- a steady steam of which are supplied by scripter Douglas Carter Beane. Better still is Leguizamo, the most convincing in taffeta, and Swayze, whose performance as the matronly Vida gives the movie its heart and soul.

* "Double Happiness" (1994, New Line, PG-13, $95.95): Similar in style and subject matter to "The Wedding Banquet," Mina Shum's low-key charmer chronicles the efforts of a young, Chinese-Canadian actress (Sandra Oh) to win independence from her over-protective family.

* "Public Access" (1993, Triboro, R, $95.95): Before he directed "The Usual Suspects," Bryan Singer helmed this creepy Sundance-Film-Fest winner about a conservative talk-show host who has more in common with Hannibal Lecter than Rush Limbaugh.

* "Coming Out Under Fire" (1994, Orion, No MPAA rating, $89.95): Given that the "don't ask, don't tell" policy of gays in the U.S. military is still encouraged, it's fascinating to hear nine homosexual military veterans recount their experiences of fighting for their country during World War II, only to be rounded up later as "undesirables." A compelling documentary.

* "Castle Freak" (1995, Full Moon, R/No MPAA rating, $95.95): Stuart Gordon of "Re-Animator" fame directs this gruesome outing about a splintering American family taking up residence at an Italian castle haunted by a grotesque creature. Gory -- especially the unrated version -- but worth a look for horror fans.

* "The Run of the Country" (1995, Sony, R, $95.95): Unknowns Matt Kessler and Victoria Smurft star in an Irish love story from director Peter Yates that manages to be melodramatic and slow-moving at the same time.

* Reruns: The final two volumes of "Absolutely Fabulous," the Edina and Patsy chronicles, have just been released. Each of the videos, priced at $19.95, contains three typically hilarious episodes ... From the galaxy of vintage television comes "William Shatner's Star Trek Memories" (Paramount, $14.95), a straight-to-video stroll down memory lane co-starring Leonard Nimoy and DeForest Kelley ... And watch the skies for three volumes of "Sightings" (Paramount, $14.95), a popular syndicated program devoted to the investigation of supernatural events.

VIDEOCASSETTE RENTALS

Here are the most popular videocassette rentals listed in the Feb. 23 issue of Video Business magazine: